China Summer Fishing Closures Have Less Market Impact Due to High Imports

China’s off-season fishing has started and relevant regulations have been implemented in coastal provinces like Shandong, Zhejiang and Fujian. However, according to Hema stores, the good news is that this has little influence on its consumers’ seafood consumption thanks to global seafood supply to Shanghai.

This season used to be a big deal for consumers, especially seafood lovers. But now Chinese consumers have more options while buying imported seafood whose prices are increasingly affordable. Hema continues searching for fresh seafood in other Chinese regions and foreign countries. Its average annual sales of imported live seafood has grown at an extraordinary rate, exceeding 100 percent per store, while the growth rate is still increasing. Russian king crab and Boston lobsters are especially popular, so the stores are likely to get more lobster supply after April 20 when the lobster fishing season started in Canada.